


Goodnight

by EinsamkeitSerif



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, lissa feels sad maribelle just knows and lon'qu tries his best, main ship is lonlissa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 05:40:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19078618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EinsamkeitSerif/pseuds/EinsamkeitSerif
Summary: After an unfortunate accident where Lissa tries to kiss Lon'qu and knees him in the crotch instead (much to Vaike's amusement), Lissa ends up wondering about her relationship with Lon'qu and the other happy couples in the Shepherds. It ends with tooth-rotting fluff (I hope), an embarrassed Lon'qu, an overly happy Lissa and clumsy goodnight kisses.





	Goodnight

**Author's Note:**

> LonLissa is my OTP right now (they are adorable?!!) and I love Fire Emblem Awakening. If you have any ideas for more LonLissa fics or just fanfiction ideas for FE:A, please let me know! I'd love to write more for this fandom (yes, this is my first time writing a second fanfiction for a fandom... as you can tell). I apologise if anyone is OOC, but this is my first time writing for a lot of these characters and I had a lot of fun doing that, so hope you enjoy!

“Lon’qu!” Lissa cried, poking her head into the mess tent in hopes of catching sight of the dark-haired man. She was met with a startled Stahl, who jolted up from one of the tables and blinked sleepily at her. “Oh, Lissa?”

“Have you seen Lon’qu?” Lissa asked, trying to keep the impatience out of her voice. Stahl’s brow furrowed for a moment and he tilted his head to the side. “Hmm… well, most of them are out training by the field, so…”

“Ah!” Lissa smacked herself in the forehead. “How could I have not thought of that earlier? Thank you, Stahl.” She turned to leave, then turned back around to squint at the man. “Wait – what are you doing here, then?”

Stahl smiled slightly sheepishly and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, it’s Frederick’s Fanatical Fitness Hour, and… uh, do me a favour, will you? Don’t tell Frederick I’m here.”

Lissa raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and smiled back. “Sure! But you should probably find somewhere a little more discrete to hide since the mess tent isn’t…”

“Got it.” Stahl yawned. “I’ll just… catch up on training later… when he isn’t here…”

Lissa left Stahl to his own devices and trotted out of the tent, swinging her stave nonchalantly as she walked. Today certainly was a wonderful day – the sun shone upon the Shepherds’ camp and the sky was as blue as it could be. The excitement of seeing Lon’qu and the pleasant warmth of the day put a bounce in her step as she made her way over to the expanse of field just beyond the camp, bidding a greeting to Sumia – who was feeding her pegasus – as she passed.

Lissa could already hear Frederick’s voice as she approached. “Good work. Make sure to rehydrate, especially with today’s heat. Dismissed!”

“Frederick!” Lissa chirped as she skipped out onto the field, where she noticed Robin face-first on the ground with her arms splayed out and – in contrast – Henry bouncing up and down, flapping his arms like a bird. “Aww, it’s over already? But it’s fun!”

“I,” Robin lifted her head to peer blearily at Henry, “don’t even know how –“ Robin inhaled deeply and went back to lying face-first on the ground.

Frederick reached down and hauled Robin to her feet before the white-haired tactician could protest. “Now, now, Robin. How will you grow stronger if you don’t push yourself to the limit? Go and drink some water back at camp.”

Robin groaned and wiped sweat off her face with a hand. Then she seemed to notice Lissa and lowered her hand to blink blearily at her. “Oh, hello, Lissa.”

“Ah, milady!” Frederick turned to Lissa. “I did not expect you to show up. Allow me to clear the path of pebbles –“

“Um, it’s fine, Frederick.” Lissa interrupted before Frederick could actually start picking up pebbles. “I was wondering if you knew where Lon’qu is?”

“My apologies, but I do not.” Frederick narrowed his eyes slightly. “Perhaps you could persuade him to join in with Frederick’s Fanatical Fitness Hour. I haven’t seen him participate in one of my sessions even once.”

“…okay, sure?” Lissa laughed nervously under Frederick’s piercing gaze. “I’ll… try.” She could already imagine Lon’qu’s reaction to that. “So, um…”

“Ooh!” Henry’s eyes lit up. “I saw him go off somewhere with Vaike… maybe he’s training?”

Frederick raised an eyebrow. “I see. Milady, allow me to accompany you in your search of them. I would like to have a word with them about their… participation in my Fitness Hour. Perhaps if they are busy now, I could work in a private session with them later…”

“It’s fine! I’ll just… remind them later. You don’t have to escort me and all, but thanks for… the offer.” Lissa tapped her foot impatiently and glanced out across the field. “I’ll be back at camp in a moment. See you there!”

“Milady, do be careful –”

Lissa had already hurried off across the field before Frederick could continue. The brown-haired man sighed and turned back to the two participants of his Fitness Hour. “…Robin, do you require a Cleric?”

—o—o—o—

Lissa’s jade eyes lit up as she finally noticed the two men sparring at the other end of the field. “Lon’qu!” She cried, sprinting over as well as she could with her dress.

“Oi, Lon’qu! Your girlfriend’s here.” Vaike paused in his sparring and lowered his axe, ignoring Lon’qu’s flustered spluttering. “Heya, Lissa.”

“Hello, Vaike!” Lissa chirped, bidding the man a wave before turning back to Lon’qu, a pout now turning the corners of her lips downwards. “I haven’t seen you in ages! It’s not fair!”

“…what?” Lon’qu lowered his sword, too, and wiped sweat off his brow with his furred sleeve. His face was flushed from exertion and he huffed out a breath at the sight of Lissa. “What is it?”

“You literally go and confess your love one day and then you don’t even say ‘good morning’ the next day and disappear off to train!” Lissa complained. “I thought you said ‘no more distance’, remember?!”

Lon’qu eyes softened and he sighed. “My apologies, Lissa. I did not… consider this possibility. I was not avoiding you intentionally – I suppose I will try… to spend more time with you tomorrow.”

Lissa’s pout immediately vanished as she smiled impishly back up at him. “Well… you know, you – you should make it up to me!”

“Make it… up to you?”

“Whoa, whoa, wait a second.” Vaike interrupted them and held out his hands. “You said that Mr. ‘I’m Terrified of Women’ here – _he_ confessed his love first? To you? Gods, this is… unbelievable!” Vaike let out a bark of laughter and clapped Lon’qu across the back. “Tell ol’ Teach, Lissa – how did it happen? I’ve got to know!”

Lon’qu glared at Vaike. “Be silent. What happened is none of your concern.” He sheathed his sword in a single, swift movement. “Let us head back to camp. It is getting late.”

“Lon’qu!” Lissa knew she was sounding like a whiny child but she couldn’t care less. “You still have to make it up to me – ugh, you know what?! I’ll take things into my own hands!”

Lissa stormed over to Lon’qu, ignoring his inquisitive and slightly confused gaze, and glanced up at him, silently calculating their height difference. She squeezed her eyes shut, took a deep breath, and jumped up to throw her arms around his broad shoulders to peck him on the lips.

Unfortunately, whatever she had been planning to do promptly went downhill from there. For a start, she felt her knee connect with something as she jumped and all of a sudden the two of them were on the floor and Lon’qu was hissing like a cat and curling up like he had been punched in the gut.

Meanwhile, Vaike was practically dying of laughter behind them. “Lissa, you – this is better than any comedy show I’ve ever seen!”

Lissa quickly rolled off Lon’qu with wide eyes. “Gods, Lon’qu, I’m so sorry–!”

She was met with a pained groan in response. Lissa quickly scrambled for the stave attached to her back. “Let me just –”

“I’m fine,” Lon’qu ground out through gritted teeth, still curled up with his hands pressed to his stomach (there was no way his hands would travel any lower especially with Vaike laughing at him). “Give me… a moment.”

“Lissa, I do hope you weren’t thinking of having children anytime soon, because I’m not sure –” Vaike snorted as he tried to quell his laughter, “–that you may or may not have rid him of his ability to–!”

“Vaike!” Lissa cried out, her face flushing furiously at his statement. Lon’qu simply groaned and buried his flushed face behind his arms, unwilling to remove his hands from his stomach.

After several minutes of Lissa desperately trying to shut Vaike up and Lon’qu trying to comfort Lissa by promising that he was fine (and he was, mostly, after a few minutes), Lissa found herself even more downbeat than she had been earlier. The sun was already dipping in the sky as they walked (in Lon’qu’s case, a strange fusion of limping and walking) back to camp. Vaike had finally stopped laughing long enough to remember he had left his axe and had rushed back to fetch it.

“I’m so sorry, Lon’qu…” Lissa said miserably. “Gods, I can’t even do anything properly without messing up…”

“It… it’s fine, Lissa.” Lon’qu muttered, after a hiss of breath through gritted teeth. “It was an accident. But I do hope you refrain from doing that again.”

Lissa sighed and lowered her head. “But… it’s not fine… I hurt you, and…”

Ever so slowly, Lissa felt Lon’qu’s hand tentatively press against her tightened fist as if asking for permission. Lissa let her fingers loosen and Lon’qu gently curled his fingers around hers. Lissa spared a quick glance at his face and her spirits were temporarily lifted at the sight of his faintly flushed, red face.

“I-Is… this okay?” Lon’qu asked cautiously, still ever so carefully holding her hand in his calloused palm. Lissa let out a breath, unable to stay miserable for time being after his attempt at trying to make her feel better.

“…yes.” She sighed softly and let her fingers twine around his more tightly, allowing for the chill of the night to cool her flushed face.

“Lon’qu?” She mumbled as they walked back to camp, fingers laced. “…I love you.”

She was met with what sounded like a muffled noise. She looked up at the dark-haired man to find his face even redder than hers and hidden behind his other hand, which – honestly – she found adorable (she knew he would probably not be very happy to be called that, but it was the only word to come to her mind). Her dampened spirits temporarily quelled, she smiled tentatively up at him and carefully leaned her head against his shoulder –

“I’m back, lovebirds!”

“V–Vaike!” Lissa cried out, feeling her heart stop for a second as she jolted upright. “You scared me!”

Lon’qu scowled at Vaike but didn’t say anything.

“Just go on with whatever you were doing,” Vaike hummed, waving a hand nonchalantly. “Just pretend the Vaike isn’t here.”

Lissa huffed and wrapped her hands around herself, suddenly noticing the absence of Lon’qu’s hand in hers. This only made her even more crestfallen but from Lon’qu’s expression, it didn’t look like he would initiate contact anytime soon, especially with Vaike’s intrusive presence. Lissa sighed and tried not to look too miserable as she continued walking once again, her mind clouded.

Even though Lon’qu had forgiven her for their… earlier incident, Lissa couldn’t bring it within her to make eye contact without a pang of guilt running through her chest. She sighed again and continued to walk, letting Vaike’s incessant chatter fade into the background as she drifted away into her own thoughts.

—o—o—o—

Eventually, the guilt faded off over a dinner of bear meat and cabbage stew. Lissa found herself settling into a state of content in one of Maribelle’s cushioned chairs.

“Lon’qu is too tall for me to kiss him.” Lissa sighed. “What can I do?”

Currently, she had found refuge in the Shepherds’ ‘girls’ night’ – where they all gathered in one of their tents to gossip or just chat. Maribelle was hosting tonight’s event, and had sat everyone upon chairs with aromatic cups of tea that wafted some sort of sweet, citrus-like scent.

“Oh, darling.” Maribelle took a sip of her cup and sighed daintily. “I still don’t understand why you’ve chosen to marry a commoner, but if he makes you happy, then so be it.”

She lowered her cup slightly to peer at Lissa over its rim. “Perhaps you could simply ask him to kneel like a noble gentlemen.”

Sully barked with laughter from where she was slung over her chair. “Or just kick him in the groin, and when he keels over, _then_ you kiss him!”

Maribelle scoffed. “That would be very unladylike –”

“Er, I may have done that before? Accidentally?”

Sully nearly spat out her tea. Instead, she opted for nearly slamming down the delicate teacup (which would’ve earned her a lecture from Maribelle if Maribelle hadn’t been shocked into silence) to erupt into laughter. “You what?! You mean you actually – gods, I wish I was there to see it!”

Lissa laughed awkwardly as she tried not to recall the event. To be fair, now that she thought about it, it was… funny, in a way, though Lon’qu would probably say otherwise. “I’d rather not have him go through that again.”

Maribelle’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again like a fish’s. Finally, she lowered her cup of tea and blinked, still looking mildly shocked.

“I could hex him.” Tharja mumbled. Lissa turned to glance at the Plegian mage, glad to find an excuse to not have to continue that line of conversation, even if she had to listen to Tharja talk about her dark hexes. “…What?”

Tharja’s lips curved upwards ever so slightly as her eyes flickered over to Robin, who was perched upon her chair at the other side of the tent and deep in conversation with Cordelia. “Would the height of a toad suffice?”

“Aha… ha… that… is an interesting jest.” Lissa chuckled nervously. “How about… maybe not. Thanks for the… advice, though.” Lissa prayed she really was jesting, though with Tharja, you could never tell until the last moment.

Tharja simply chuckled softly to herself as she studied Robin with half-lidded eyes. Lissa decided to ignore that and sighed as she took a sip of her citrus tea. _What should I do…? There’s no way Lon’qu would actually initiate contact further from touching my hand, and… ugh, what can I do…?_

As Lissa was engrossed in her own thoughts, Maribelle studied her blond-haired friend’s worried expression with her lips pursed. “Lissa, darling…” She began, “Perhaps you should give Lon’qu some time. While it is… commendable he has managed to confess his love for you without whimpering like a kitten, it is simply inexcusable for him to not be able to treat my dearest Lissa with the love she deserves.”

Maribelle took another sip of tea. “Maybe something may happen to… cause him to change his mind.”

—o—o—o—

Lon’qu’s eyes narrowed as Maribelle approached him. “Away, woman. I don’t want to speak to you.”

Maribelle sniffed daintily and came to a stop a few meters away from him. “My, my. Is this the man my dearest Lissa is going to marry? Truly a shame, especially since you can’t even see that she’s miserable because of you.”

Whatever else that Lon’qu was going to say promptly vanished. “…What do you mean?”

Maribelle shook her head and sighed. “My, you are truly a dense lout. Have you not seen? Lissa’s spirits have been dampened lately because of you, especially after that incident a little bird told me about. You claim to love her but you don’t treat her with the love she deserves.”

Lon’qu opened his mouth, then closed it again. Now that he really thought about it, Lissa had seemed… rather down lately. Was it actually because of him, like he had been wondering?

“Simply holding her hand is… commendable for you, but it is not enough.” Maribelle curved an eyebrow at him. “Do you claim to love her? Then prove it.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Lon’qu finally muttered.

“Why, of course. I don’t want Lissa to be unhappy, and neither should you.” Maribelle sniffed. “If Lissa wishes to marry a commoner, then so be it. But I will not stand for him to treat her like any other woman.”

She turned away and glanced over her shoulder through narrowed eyes. “Treat Lissa like the treasure she is. She’s not someone that any ordinary man could win the love of, so… make sure to make her happy.”

Maribelle strode away, not even waiting for the dark-haired man to say something.

Lon’qu groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. Even though the woman was irritating, she… did have a point.

 _Is… Lissa feeling miserable because I can’t… initiate physical contact? I… did promise her that we would have no more distance… Very well. Then if it is what will make her happy, then… I will try my best._ He swallowed, trying to calm his suddenly racing heart. _But… how?_

—o—o—o—

Lissa sighed and flopped down on her cot, glad to be out of her hoop skirt and into a much more comfortable dress. Already, the chatter just outside her tent was fading away as people made for their cots, bidding goodnight to friends and lovers.

“Goodnight, Chrom.” Lissa glanced over at the entrance of her tent. Just outside, she could see the telltale flickers of white hair lit by the dying embers by the fire outside, which had been tended to by Frederick.

“Goodnight, Robin.” Chrom replied. Out of pure curiosity, Lissa strained her neck to see outside. To nobody’s surprise, her brother and Robin were holding hands as they headed back towards their separate tents, which were directly next to each other.

They shared a short kiss (which Lissa tried not to watch _too_ closely – she wasn’t a peeping tom, after all) and headed out of sight. Somewhere by the smouldering embers, Sully erupted into a fit of laughter next to Stahl and slapped him so hard on the back that Lissa could hear the resounding thud, who nearly fell over with a choked groan but ended up chuckling softly in response to something she said. Panne strode past the mess tent, with Gaius almost glued to her side as they shared quiet conversation.

All of this only made Lissa feel even more lonely. She flopped back onto her cot and held up a hand, turning it beneath the dim light and studying the way the ring on her finger shimmered faint bronze in the firelight.

 _I don’t regret marrying Lon’qu – I could never. But honestly I just wish…_ Lissa sighed and lowered her hand. _I wish we could be more like the other couples, you know?_

 _I know it’s selfish – that it’s hard for him to even speak to a woman. And I’m not complaining – I’m a very lucky woman to have won his love. But…_

Unable to continue her train of thought, Lissa sighed and turned over on her side, not even bothering to reach for her blankets.

“Lissa?” A familiar, rumbling voice disturbed her from her thoughts. It took Lissa a moment to fully comprehend it and she immediately sat up, wide awake. “Lon’qu?”

She was met with the recognisable, awkward cough into the back of his hand (she could imagine it even by just studying the silhouette that stood just outside her tent flap) and a muttered affirmation. “May I come in?”

Lissa blinked. Out of everything she could have expected him to say – from “there’s an assassin outside” to a simple “good night” – this was not one of the top few. But still, it was most definitely a welcome one, and Lissa responded with an overly eager “Sure!”

The tall man ducked beneath the tent flap after a prolonged hesitation. She couldn’t see his face through the darkness of her tent, but she could see him make his way cautiously through her tent, taking great care not to knock over or step on anything. He stopped directly in front of her without even a word.

“…what is it?” Lissa asked, slightly confused as he continued to stand there without speaking.

“…ahem. My apologies.” He mumbled, running a hand through his thick tangle of hair. “Er, Lissa. It has come to my attention that… I have not been…” He nervously coughed into the back of his hand again. Lissa could almost feel the heat radiating off his face, which she would’ve found endearing if not for the same heat that was beginning to flush her face red even though she didn’t know why.

“I have not been paying enough attention to you.” Lon’qu concluded in a single, rushed breath. “I, er, thought that… you would like to…” He swallowed visibly. Lissa blinked, trying to comprehend what he was saying.

“Gods, this is… difficult.” The tall Myrmidon let out a shaky exhale. “What I would like to do, is, er, I… I promised that we would have no more distance, didn’t I? So… I suppose we would have to start… from somewhere.”

He reached out a hand and hesitated for a second and lowered it. He lifted his hand again, and almost timidly took Lissa’s hand in his own.

Now Lissa was certain her face was redder than she had ever seen. She could only stutter out a “w-what?” ( _Gods, Lissa, get a grip – you’re supposed to be the one who…!_ ) as he knelt and gently brushed chapped lips over the back of her hand. He was visibly shaking, much to Lissa’s surprise.

“L-lon’qu… are you okay?” She finally managed to say. “I… er…”

He seemed torn in between clasping her hand like his life depended on it and bolting straight out her tent. Lissa made the decision for him and shifted aside on her cot, hesitantly pulling him down to sit next to her.

He did not resist and perched cautiously on the edge of her cot, as if he was afraid he would break it. He was still holding her hand in his own delicately, which simply made Lissa’s heart melt as she finally got a grasp on the situation and smiled up at him.

“Lon’qu, I…” She began. She studied his furrowed brow and dark eyes in the dimming firelight outside and finally decided to say what she had been wanting to say all this time. “May I… lean against you? Would that be too far?”

Lon’qu could only give a small, shaky nod in reply (Lissa did hope it was affirmation to her first statement and not the second). Lissa gently removed her hand from his, only to lean forward to embrace him cautiously, giving him time to pull away if he really wanted to. When he didn’t, she leaned further forwards and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders to press her face against the crook of his neck.

He didn’t speak, but she could feel him slowly relax in her embrace. The tense muscles Lissa could feel against her own palms gradually loosened and slackened in her grip.

He smelled like wind and a cool, forest night. She let herself relax, too, and simply comforted herself by leaning against him. Ever so cautiously, his arms slowly travelled up to linger just by there shoulder blades in a tentative return of the embrace.

They could’ve stayed like that forever. However, Lissa decided to take it one step further ( _Who knew when he’d open up to her like this again?_ ) and pulled away for a second, which had him make a small noise of discontentment as he pulled back slightly to study her face in the flickering light. Lissa’s breath caught at the sight of his dark eyes piercing into hers – she felt almost pinned down by his intense gaze in a way she couldn’t really describe.

“…What is it?” Concern laced his tone.

“Lon’qu… may I…” Lissa felt her face flush further, but the comforting solace of the darkness prompted her to go on. “May I kiss you?”

His hesitation had her quickly scramble for an apology. “I-I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to! I –”

“I… don’t mind.” He mumbled, silencing her with a gentle press of a finger to her lips. “But… I… I do not know how…”

“Let me lead.” Lissa rushed, then quickly regained her composure. “Er, I’ll… show you, but…” She laughed nervously. “I don’t really know about it, so…” She trailed off as Lon’qu gave her a gentle, faint smile – one that would’ve been barely perceptible if Lissa didn’t know him – and prompted her to go on by carefully wrapping his arms around her back again. Lissa took this as a sign of his consent and leaned forward to cautiously press her lips against his in imitation of how the other Shepherds did it.

Lon’qu did not move, clearly unsure of what to do. His hands were tense against her back as if he were worried that he would break something if he even moved an inch.

Lissa took a daring risk and, out of pure instinct, let her tongue flick out against his lower lip. This prompted a response: Lon’qu’s eyes widened ever so slightly and he flinched, causing her to pull back.

“I-It’s nothing,” he quickly reassured her, before she could speak. “I… I did not expect that, that is all.” He coughed bashfully. “I, er… I would like… to try… again…”

Lissa could almost feel her heart swell and burst from the surge of happiness that coursed through her. However, she tried not to show it too much – lest she startle him and shatter their peaceful moment – and simply nodded wordlessly with a smile. This time, much to her surprise, he leaned forward of his own accord and brushed clumsy lips against hers – well, her nose, actually. He pulled away quickly, face flushed. “M-my apologies, I…”

Lissa was unable to keep a soft bubble of laughter that spilled from her lips at simply how adorable her lover was (though he seemed to have frozen up at her reaction with eyes as wide as an owl’s). “Lon’qu, you’re…” She decided to keep her thoughts to herself this time and swallowed back her laughter. “Let’s try again, shall we?”

Since he seemed to be too flustered to initiate contact again, she leaned forward. This time, when she playfully flicked at his bottom lip with her tongue, he did not pull away and even awkwardly tried to mimic the action, poking at her closed lips with the tip of his tongue almost self-consciously.

Lissa pulled away feeling out of breath despite how short the kiss lasted and her skin tingling with the same sensation she had felt earlier. A blissful, mindless smile crossed her face at the sheer exhilaration she felt and she leaned against him, eyes fluttering shut.

While she quietly dozed off against Lon’qu's shoulder, Lon’qu tried to quell the beet-red flush that had spread all the way up to his ears and down his neck. _Gods, this woman…_ He gazed down at her fondly, tongue mindlessly flickering out to dab where Lissa had grazed his lower lip with her tongue.

“Maribelle was right.” He hummed lowly to himself as he brushed away a strand of Lissa’s soft blond hair. Silently, he dreaded having to go back and thank the woman for informing him of Lissa’s unspoken wish – but then again, being by Lissa’s side and allowing himself to open up was most definitely worth it.

 _Who knew I would ever end up opening up to – and loving – a woman?_ Lon’qu sighed and allowed himself a smile as he gazed upon the woman that he loved.

“…Goodnight, Lissa.” He finally said as he rose to head back to his tent –

Lissa groaned in her sleep and immediately clutched at his arm like a child with a toy. Lon’qu frowned but couldn’t bring it within himself to wake her. He settled upon the cot again, allowing her to clutch at his arm and nuzzle into his neck.

 _Maybe I’ll just… wait for her grip to relax… then I can return to my tent._ Lon’qu stifled a yawn and stared out between the gap of Lissa’s tent flap. The hazy glow from the embers of the fire and the faint shimmer of moonlight upon the ground only served to weigh his eyelids down further.

 _Perhaps… in a moment…_ Lon’qu had dozed off by Lissa’s side before he could finish his train of thought.

—o—o—o—

“Maribelle, you wouldn’t believe what happened.” Lissa smothered a yawn through the back of her hand as she approached her friend.

“What is it, dear?” Maribelle’s brow creased for a second as she studied Lissa’s face. “Goodness, you look quite fatigued. Did you not sleep well?”

“No, no…” Lissa waved off Maribelle’s question. Already, the corners of her lips were curving upwards at the memory. “Did you know? Lon’qu came up to me – willingly – and actually opened up and let me hug him? And we…” Lissa smiled blissfully as she recalled the memory. “And I think I fell asleep at some point…?”

 _Maybe it’s best not to tell Maribelle about all of it… Naga knows what she’ll have to lecture me about next._ Lissa tried to swallow the laughter that was beginning to bubble up in her throat as she was reminded of how she had woken up with a cramped neck next to a rather peaceful and asleep Lon’qu. Lissa’s breath had caught in her throat at how peaceful and, well, mellow he looked in his sleep compared to the usual, brooding and narrow-eyed expression that he wore.

Lissa would really have preferred to continue watching him, but he had startled awake as soon as she shifted and had slipped away into the dawn before anyone could catch him exiting her tent. _“Who knows what rumours will spread if people see me leaving your tent in the morning?!” He had grumbled with red-tipped ears and cheeks, but had allowed Lissa to playfully peck him goodbye on the cheek before he left._

“That’s wonderful, dear.” Maribelle wore a faint, almost knowing smile on her face, though Lissa couldn’t pinpoint why. “Perhaps something persuaded him to change his mind.”

“Huh, I guess.” Lissa tried to quell the overly large smile that was crossing her face. “You did mention something like that yesterday, didn’t you, Maribelle? How did you know?”

Maribelle simply smiled. “A lady has her secrets, darling. That is all.”

Maribelle’s eyes flickered over to where she had spotted a flicker of an ever-familiar shadow earlier. As expected, there was nothing there, but Maribelle could certainly feel a familiar pair of narrowed eyes following her every move.

“Eh? But… how did you…?!” Lissa still looked lost. Maribelle chuckled softly to herself and ushered the blond-haired girl towards her tent. “Let us have some tea now, darling. Let’s put our minds at rest over a cup of tea, shall we?”


End file.
